Farmers v. Monsanto

GMO corn in Germany.

This message, from Gianni Ortiz, contains information about an upcoming gathering to show support for the 82 farmers who are taking agro-tech giant Monsanto to court in The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA), et. al. v. Monsanto. Gianni is organizing a delegation from Upstate NY to make an appearance at the event. For more information about the case, click here.

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Hello Everyone,

The Bus will be leaving promptly at 6am Tuesday January 31st from the old Wal-Mart parking lot in Hudson. The exact address is 351 Fairview Avenue, Hudson, NY 12534. Please be there no later than 5:45 am. Those who have already confirmed are guaranteed a seat, everyone else will be first come, first sat – maximum capacity is 55 passengers. Bring anything you will need to be comfortable for the day. We will reserve space for signs, etc… The weather should be quite gorgeous with temperatures in the low 50’s. Also we are asking that those in our group wear a purple armband so that we can keep track of and support each other during the action. You can find guidelines for signage and more at www.osgata.org.

We will be gathering with occupywallstreet. They are planning on having a large demonstration with a timeline of different egregious actions committed by Monsanto over the years, a teach-in, and possibly a large banner. A big thank you the organizers of Occupy Big Food and Occupy Wall Street Food Justice for their hard work on this. I believe we will be leaving Foley Square at mid-afternoon but cannot guarantee that, so please make your plans accordingly. Departure time from NYC will be announced the morning of. We have the use of the bus up until leaving NYC at 6pm.

The Food Safety Modernization Act becomes law

On Tuesday, January 4th, President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), ending a long and contentious debate about the government's role in the food system. In general, the FSMA is designed to limit the spread of foodborne illness through increased regulation. Among other things, the bill allows the Secretary of Health & Human Services and the Food & Drug Administration to more frequently inspect food processing facilities, recall tainted food, and impose stricter regulations on imported food. While most applauded the move as much-needed consumer protection, many were concerned that new regulations could put family farms and other small producers at a great disadvantage.

Thanks to the efforts of many grassroots political action groups, the FSMA we have today is far more sensitive to the needs of small- and mid-scale farms and food producers. Instead of imposing one-size-fits-all regulations, paperwork, and costs, the Tester-Hagan and other amendments ensure that our local food producers receive fair and evenhanded treatment. The result is an FSMA that most sustainable agriculture organizations are hailing as a "victory" for the local food movement and consumers in general.

According to the National Sustainable Agriculture coalition, six amendments in particular sponsored by NSAC and remain intact in the final version of the FSMA were critical in making the FSMA a better, more effective Act for small farmers:

• An amendment, sponsored by Senator Sanders (I-VT), giving FDA the authority to either exempt farms engaged in low or no risk processing or co-mingling activities from new regulatory requirements or to modify particular regulatory requirements for such farming operations.